Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time remake goes on sale tomorrow, 5 November, and it runs only on the Switch 2.
Nintendo has redone the 1998 Nintendo 64 game from the ground up. Characters now speak their lines in longer scenes, the score is orchestral, and even material textures were redrawn. Controls changed as well: Link gets dedicated jump and run buttons, and the right stick moves the camera.
The headline gimmick is the ocarina itself. Hum a tune Link already knows near the Switch 2’s built-in microphone and he will play it on screen. Nintendo’s anniversary announcement, made in September, also showed series producer Eiji Aonuma presenting the first gameplay.
Phone owners get something too: the Nintendo Switch App’s Zelda Notes section adds an Ocarina of Time companion, with a daily quiz of more than 2,000 questions, a virtual ocarina on the touchscreen and hint-image challenges for finding places in the game. Nintendo also says the day and night cycle keeps running even inside towns, and a Threads of Time screen shows story progress and the next objective.
The release is the centrepiece of the Zelda 40th anniversary. The Zelda-themed Switch 2 console, a Pro Controller and a carrying case, all with a Triforce design, went on sale on 29 October. Two amiibo figures, Young Link and Young Zelda, arrive in 2027 and unlock throwback-styled masks. The live-action Legend of Zelda film reaches cinemas on 30 April 2027.
The remake also arrives just ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI, which launches on 19 November after a pre-load that opens on 10 November. Cartridges reportedly reached some buyers early, before the official date. Digital and physical editions both go on sale on the 5th.
